Nameless. Unknown. Alone. Female Assassin. Who wouldn’t’t fall for these descriptions? The story is good and in good pace although some twists are predictable. I liked the characters, especially Nash! The world building is good as well and the writing is not too complicated. I’m actually looking forward to its next instalment.

Thanks to Netgalley and Weapenry Co-op for giving me this book to review.

Death’s Queen is a new novel by Janeal Falor which is fast paced and predictable but I never found it boring. There was action, politics and some romance but I felt that this part was a bit too rushed. I really liked this world and the idea of a drink deciding who the next Queen is. I can understand the comparison to the Throne of Glass series but as I found that series to be underwhelming, this book is much better in my opinion.

The Queen (who has no name which makes it difficult to talk about her in this review) has so many walls around herself, which makes it hard for her to open up but she is very strong, does not care about other people’s negative opinions of her which shows in her lack of social skills, but during this book has a good development arc. There are a few secondary characters but my favourite is Nash as he is loyal, intelligent and protective but is also not afraid to speak his mind.

I really enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to reading the next book Death’s Betrayal. I would recommend this book to fans of YA fantasy books with magic, royalty and assassins.

I genuinely tried to like and even finish this book, but unfortunately it was not in the cards for me. From the start it is too close in feel to Throne of Glass series. Additionally, two assassin attempts on a new queen in less than 3 days and what? less than 10 chapters? Very annoying.

The Nameless Queen, because I can't even remember her name, tried to escape death by becoming queen, and is now pissed off that she is expected to do queenly duties.

Granted, I have not even made it halfway, but I just feel like reading this book is a chore.

The thing I liked most about this book were the action/fight scenes, as they were really intense and drove the pace of the story forward. This made the book a very fast read. The plot wasn't very complicated, but had unique flairs regarding the history and traditions of Valcora that were intriguing. Also, I enjoyed the beginnings of a romance between the main character and Nash.

However, there were several things about this book that bothered me. The first being that there was very little detail given about the world (Valcora) and its surrounding countries, except what is essential, and almost no descriptions (except for the fact that there are five moons of different colors) to allow the reader to put themselves in the world the author is creating. Additionally, there are very few specific's given about the main characters past, just letting the reader know that it was bad and she was an assassin for her previous master, repeatedly. Finally, the ending was very abrupt and left a bunch of unanswered questions, which would lead me to believe there might be a sequel though I haven't seen any evidence of that.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

<I>Death's Queen</I> by Janeal Falor

<b>Star rating</b>: ★★★★ ☆ 4/5 stars

<b>Format</b>: ebook galley

<b>Summary</b>: A nameless assassin escapes her old master who has trained her since she was a child. Wishing to end her life after everything she has been forced to do she drinks from a magical cup that decides the new queen but if you drink from it and you are not the queen you die. She drinks from it and instead if dying as she thought she is declared the new queen.

<b>Review</b>: I received a free copy of this book for review from NetGalley.

I'll just say because people are going to make this comparison between this book and Throne of Glass-- that I much prefer this protagonist. There are times she is irritating but she's not god awful obnoxious like tog.

I hope this is the beginning of a series rather than a stand alone. I don't him, it's strong as a stand alone. It raises too many questions that are not answered. But if it's a series then that's fine because they will likely be addressed in coming books.

I do like this book overall. It's an enjoyable story and I liked reading it. It was a quick read and I would have liked more but overall I really liked reading it. There could have been more to the story, I felt there was just a lot of the queen sitting in her room learning about her country.

It's a little frustrating that the main character doesn't have a name until the very end of the book. She's also very stubborn and unwilling to listen, sometimes it's things I want to cheer her on for but a good amount of time I just want to be like "Really?? Stop."

It was a bit anticlimactic at the end and I was hoping that there would be much more. Especially since her old master outs her as an assassin and there doesn't seem to be any repercussions over that. If there is a second book I'd like to see that addressed, I'd also like to see her actually make changes.

<b>Recommendation</b>: It's worth a read especially since it isn't very long.

I read this almost in one sitting. I liked how the concept reminded me a bit of Throne of Glass without being too similar. Being forced into being an assassin at a young age her guilt leads her to drink from the cup that will kill her or make her Queen, but more than likely she believes this will kill her and free her from her guilt. Instead she accidently becomes Queen. While trying to adapt to her new role she must discover who keeps sending assassins to kill her with the help of her new Head Advisor. Is it her old master or someone at the palace. Will she able to figure it out in time.

I thought some of the narration was choppy and the self pity was a little over done but it was an entertaining and quick read. I enjoyed the main character developpement. I liked how she didnt take shit from anyone but I think she should have pretended to care what her ladies in waiting and her old advisor had to say to avoid making so many enemies. Shes has a difficult time opening up but I liked how she came to depend on her Head Advisor Nash. Their relationship didnt come easy but it was realistic. I was shipping them together. I also loved her friendship with the Head Maid Inkga.

One of the twist was predictable but I didnt see the other ones coming. The pacing was exactly was I was looking for quick and easy. I love it when a book hooks me like that and I dont feel like putting it down to do something else. One of my favorite parts were her weird dreams. I was hoping she would get more information from them and that she would learn about magic but I was always looking forward to reading those parts. The lack of magic was a little disapointing but maybe we'll get some in the next book. The ending was satisfying and Im looking forward to the sequel.

Death's Queen was a quick, interesting read!

When I first started reading it, I was frustrated with the Queen's macabre attitude and willingness to die. I understood the circumstances, but I wish that the story didn't focus quite so much on her suicidal thoughts. In the end, those thoughts drove her to accidentally become Queen, and that is where the story and character development really begin.

The Queen's emotional growth rapidly became apparent about mid-way through the read. It was nice to see her develop interests in her role and start thinking about the positive influences she could have on the country. As an assassin who is used to building walls between herself and others, who is unfamiliar with having friends or the like, her interactions with some characters were especially interesting. She slowly grows out of her shell and learns to trust, and I love her character development over the course of the story.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, and I'm excited to see if the story continues.

This could have been really good and epic. But I guess I had too high of an expectation because right now I just can't continue reading it. There was no world building, everything happened too fast and I just had no idea what the heck was happening and why.
DNF-ing this one for now.

I received an e-arc to read and review.

I love reading books with female assassin as main character so when I saw this book and it's interesting synopsis, I decided to give this a shot. I had no high expectations before going into this book but I was hoping for a quick entertaining read. I enjoyed reading this book but I also had few issues with it. I really liked the female protagonist of this book who is totally kickass. The plot is decent but nothing mind blowing. I loved the interesting concept of this book which is the first thing that grabbed my attention.

I really liked the female protagonist of this book! She is totally badass character who has deadly fighting skills. She maybe strong on the outside but inside she's still vulnerable seventeen year old girl. Though I really liked her, I can't emotionally connect with her. It would be great if we had a few glimpses of the killings or the nightmares that are haunting her every night because her wanting to kill herself is pretty much annoyed me sometimes and I really want to know what she has gone through so that I could understand her better. Nash is pretty nice guy and a total gentleman who is loyal to his country and the queen. He didn't made much impact in the story but I liked his character in the book. There is not much romance in this book but there is a growing attraction between Nash and the heroine and I enjoyed their every interaction. The secondary characters are okay-ish but they aren't memorable enough to describe.

The plot is pretty good but unfortunately, it was quite predictable for me. However, I found myself enjoying the story only because I liked the main character and her badass attitude. The inner monologue's seemed a bit lengthy but I wasn't much bothered with it. The story is a fast paced read told from the mc's POV. The writing is good and I loved the simple world building but I was a little bit disappointed that there isn't much magical elements in it.

Overall, it was good but not great! The book finally concluded by leaving some things unresolved so I really hope there's going to be a sequel to it.

Going into this book, i was pretty nervous thinking it would be a little too similar to Throne Of Glass but the only similarities were that both MC's were assassins and they had manipulative former masters. The MC from this book (we don't know her name) wasn't voluntarily an assassin and every time she kills she dies a little more inside which is why she decides she'd rather die than keep killing.

The MC's character went through an awesome evolution! When she first took the crown, she was completely lost and was using it only as a means to hide from her previous owner. So she spent her days locked up in her room and creating chaos with her lack of tradition. But after a while she starts to open up to her responsibilities with the guidance of Nash, her bodyguard whom she promoted to Royal Adviser.

I liked Nash's intellect, he really compensated for the MC's rash and rough exterior. Where she lacked social skills and public communication, he excelled and so helped to improve her interactions with the members of the council who pretty think she's a joke.

I liked the idea that only Queen's ruled the country and they weren't allowed to marry/be in a relationship in case they got heirs who would later fight for their claim to the throne, It was actually a pretty intelligent concept when you think about it cause no one would ever claim the throne as a birthright or something.

Okay i just have to rant about what an AWESOME personality the MC has! And no i'm not talking about her kickass fighting skills which just seem like a dull background compared to her badass attitude. So when she first gets to the castle and she noticed the court adviser is a total snake and doesn't respect her, what does she do? Does she exile him? Nope. Does she kill him? Nuh-uh. Frame him and then put him in jail? No. She makes him her Royal Furniture Adviser because the furniture is ugly and uncomfortable!!!


She doesn't have a care in the world for traditions and she doesn't melt under the pressure of becoming a poised and graceful queen. She really remained true to her antisocial/opinionated/generous self. She took Scandalous Queen to a whole new level!!! Even refusing to see her Ladies In Waiting for weeks (i don't blame her they were irritating!). Oh and she basically has zero social skills since she mostly stuck to the shadows as an assassin; which makes being a queen much more difficult for her. Not to mention she doesn't earn many fans within the council.

I can't give it above 4 stars because i wasn't really feeling the romance and though the plot was good, it was pretty basic. And i would have liked more world building! We get hints and a few magical aspects but i needed a little more! And i kind of already guessed who was trying to kill her...There was a lot of potential but it fell a little short to me.

Nevertheless it was a quick, short and enjoyable read! Loved the concept and the characters but i just wished it was a little more developed! I would definitely pick up a sequel though :P!

I thought this was a pretty ok book. At times it was a little slow, and it took me quite a while to finish. But overall I did enjoy the plot. I just wish it was faster paced.

I don't know if this book was for me. I just didn't connect with it, the idea was pretty cool I just found myself frustrated with the main character more then anything. I was annoyed she wasn't immediately helping her people. She saw what they went through yet she seemed to be stuck in her own head with her own problems. and I mean I get it and understand why and it makes sense but it still frustrated me to the point of almost not liking it. so I am not sure if I would check out the second of this series. I'd have to wait and see how I feel when it comes out, my curiosity might get to me and I'll read it.

A brilliant read... I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm actively waiting on the second book. Hopefully we don't have to wait an awfully long time for it.

Interesting concept just didn't get drawn into the book despite my love of assassins. Didn't finish. Just not for me.